Balance freedom and security or put both in danger – Greens
23 January 2013. Australian Greens communications spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam warned the 
Federal Government to avoid jeopardising civil liberties and human rights in the pursuit of security in the wake of the Prime Minister’s national security announcements today.
“It’s a positive that the Prime Minister recognises that a secure international environment is built on trust, and reaffirmed the nation’s commitment to multilateralism, but some of her statements and much of the Government’s ‘security’ agenda causes concern.
“The notion that online security threats are ‘the new terrorism’ is already generating an expensive overkill in cyber security measures. The Government has touted a series of troubling measures including the proposed retention of the electronic communications data of all Australians for a period of two years. What’s next?
“We are concerned by the implications of greater collaboration between Government and the private sector on online matters. While the idea sounds innocuous, what will be the implications for privacy, copyright, and freedom of communication?
“The Prime Minister glosses over Australia’s legislative response to the crimes of 9/11 as though it was a resounding success. The Howard-Ruddock ‘anti-terror’ laws were extreme, damaged civil liberties and undermined our justice system. The tripling of security budgets the Prime Minister cited has entailed the expanded apparatus seeking new ways to justify its huge and growing money pot.
“We will continue to subject the Government’s cyber security plans to intense scrutiny, to ensure the human rights and civil liberties of Australians are not sacrificed in the fervent pursuit of a largely questionable agenda.”
Not happy, Julia, about pre-selection of Nova Peris
AUDIO Some internal ALP unrest over Nova Peris pre-selection http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-23/some-internal-alp-unrest-over-nova-peris-pre/4479622?section=nt
The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has sidelined the sitting Northern Territory Labor Senator Trish Crossing by intervening in the Territory’s pre-selection process to have Indigenous Olympian Nova Peris selected. The move has raised the hackles of some within Labor ranks, who say it was not only politically brutal but has marginalised NT Labor members…..
MARION SCRYMGOUR: I think people are cranky. It just robs the territory of the right to have a say.
LEXI METHERELL: Darwin-born Indigenous woman Marion Scrymgour has been involved with the NT Labor Party for many years and was deputy chief minister.
MARION SCRYMGOUR: At the end of the day, yes the Prime Minister has her way. But she had her way with Warren Mundine, she had her way with Kevin Rudd. And I’m a bit sick of this National Executive who aren’t the elected arm to make these decisions…..
DOUG CAMERON: If we have got a problem in the Northern Territory with Indigenous representation we should have been dealing with this six months ago or longer. We should be looking at how we can attract talented Aboriginal people into the party, how we can make the party relevant to them.
I don’t think it’s relevant just to be parachuting people in and saying that that soothes our conscience in terms of Aboriginal representation, because it’s a short term fix that belies the deeper problem….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-23/some-internal-alp-unrest-over-nova-peris-pre/4479622?section=nt
Injustice of Britain’s refusal to recognise harm done by atomic bomb testing in South Australia
UK servicemen, Australian soldiers and civilians, including Indigenous people, all exposed to radiation as a result of British atomic weapons testing in South Australia’s outback.
“We had a skin rash, sore eyes, diarrhoea, vomiting and a lot of people got sick, and we couldn’t prove that, because we never had doctors.”
The Australian Greens’ nuclear spokesman Scott Ludlam says the dangers of radiation are well known and it’s unfair to ask Aboriginal people with scant medical records to prove a direct link between exposure to fallout and subsequent sickness.
Senator Ludlam says legalities aside, Britain should do what’s morally right, by way of an Act of Grace – a discretionary payment to remedy the suffering he says is evident.
AUDIO Aboriginal people exposed to British nuclear tests in South Australia during the 1950s are being told they have no hope of compensation. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1729400/Maralinga-compo-collapse-prompts-calls-for-Act-of-Grace 23 JAN 2013, – SOURCE: KAREN ASHFORD, SBS
(Transcript from World News Australia Radio
Aboriginal people exposed to British nuclear tests in South Australia during the 1950s are being told they have no hope of compensation.A British law firm says their cases cannot proceed because medical science cannot conclusively prove that fallout from the tests made people sick. But while legal arguments may not prevail, pressure for a settlement on moral grounds is growing. It’s pressure that the UK government is so far resisting, as Karen Ashford reports. Continue reading
Australian government did admit harm to people exposed to British atomic bomb tests
Legal advisors to the The Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement have said that they cannot proceed in a legal case on the effects of Atomic bomb testing in the 1950’s and 60’s, because there is no proof of harm to the Aboriginal people from atomic radiation. Paul Langley has unearthed a document from Australia’s Minister of Health 2001, which shows that evidence of harm did, and does exist. An excerpt from this document is shown at the bottom of this post.
The results of the global research effort showed that humans were being adversely affected by radioactive fallout from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons
Proof of Harm imposed by Nuclear Fallout, Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 23 Jan 13, “……It is weird day indeed when people acting in the interests of Aboriginal Legal Rights claim a case cannot proceed because of lack of proof, when a Federal Minister of the Australian Government, and Liberal and National Party Government at that, provided a body of proof in 2001.
The documents released by Wooldridge and ARPANSA in 2001 were extensive and included detailed information pertaining to Strontium 90 uptake by the people of Australia and New Guinea…..
Minister Wooldridge confirms that the Atomic Weapons Test Safety Committee was actively engaged in Project Sunshine. The first 11 pages of the Minutes of the AEC Committee, which sat in August 1953, remain deleted and restricted from public view. In this document the Committee considered the risks of those close in to nuclear test areas and the vulnerability of such populations. The committee pondered the adequacy of the limits set in terms of the ICRP derived tolerance dose for Strontium 90, based as it was on the radium standard.
In the 1980′s Titterton, Chair of the Safety Committee admitted that he could not share all he knew in relation to the hazards of nuclear weapons testing with the rest of the Committee and hence could not share this information with the government and people of Australia because he was subject to the secrecy provisions of both the United States of America and the United Kingdom…….
It is past time for the world to know the contents of pages 1 – 11 of the August 1953 AEC minutes. Titterton for sure was in on it. What did he take to the grave? Continue reading
Chinese warning to Australia not to join in USA militarism
Colonel Liu said the US was building ”a
mini-NATO” to contain China, with the US and Japan at its core and
Australia within its orbit.
China colonel raises nuclear spectre, SMH, January 23, 2013 John
Garnaut, Beijing A CHINESE military officer has raised the spectre of
nuclear weapons and warned Australia not to side with the United
States and Japan as a territorial dispute in the East China Sea
continues to escalate.
Senior Colonel Liu Mingfu, of the National Defence University, blamed
America’s ”orchestration” and Japan’s ”militarism” for rising
tensions Continue reading
Michael Anderson on Aboriginal people and Australia’s lack of democracy
They are welfare dependent and have to accept loss of income if they don’t bow to the rules of the government. That happens while they make billions and billions from mining on Aboriginal land. Just look at the Northern Territory, where most Aboriginals live, and its special conditions as federal territory. It is the only place in the world where a state directly operates an industry to gain communal assets, often without even allowing negotiations with Aboriginal locals. Democracy does not apply to Aboriginal people,
‘Democracy does not apply to Aboriginal people’, New Internationalist,
22 Jan 13, This year’s Australia Day, one of the world’s longest
occupation protests turns 40. Activists of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy
in Canberra have been fighting for acknowledgement, sovereignty and
self-determination of their peoples ever since.
Michael Anderson, Aboriginal rights activist and former ambassador of the Embassy, talks to Christoph Behrends about past and current struggles – and the offering of a peace pact.
Question: Michael, you’ve been one of the initiators of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy that has been residing in front of the Old Parliament House for 40 years. What comes to your mind when you think about 27 January 1972?
If you go back in history, there have been a lot of wars fought within this country. But Australia suppresses these facts This day is still very clear in my mind. The day before, the Prime Minister stated they would lease land to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples instead of giving us land rights. As a consequence, we decided to put up a permanent camp in Canberra. Within our discussions we became aware that we need a political entity, an embassy, to gain sovereignty. It was a period of not knowing what the future would bring, but knowing what we wanted…..
Question: In 1995 the National Heritage Trust listed the Aboriginal Tent Embassy as the ‘only location that represents Aboriginal Peoples in their political struggle’. Was that occasion important for the movement? It was important that they recognized that we have a legitimation, and it also symbolized a milestone in Aboriginal affairs in Australia’s history……
Socially our people are totally demoralized. Continue reading
Chief Executive Officer of the Gandangara Land Council, Jack Johnson, against NSW Land Council
Jack Johnson lashes NSW Land Council National Indigenous Times, 23
Jan 13 The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) has
recommended a consultancy firm allegedly linked to the New South Wales
Labor Party mining corruption scandal and also linked to an Aboriginal
death in custody be appointed by the New South Wales Government to
investigate Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council.
Chief Executive Officer of the Gandangara Land Council, Jack Johnson
has made the claim… (subscription only)
http://www.nit.com.au/news/2331-jack-johnson-lashes-nsw-land-council.html
Chairman of Mutawintji land council opposes uranium mining in Western New South Wales
NSW prospectors await uranium riches, 21 JAN 2013,
BILL CODE, SBS“…….There’s no doubt that talk on uranium
mining in western NSW is still in its very early stages.
But in the area, there are some traditional owners of the land who are
far from convinced of its benefits.
Wilcannia lies on the banks of the Darling River east of Broken Hill.
These days, many traditional owners from Western NSW live here.
One of them is William Bates, a man who fought against uranium mining
in South Australia in the early 1980s.
He’s the chair of Broken Hill’s neighbouring Mutawintji land council.
Because of the nascent stage of development, whether there’s uranium
under that arid piece of NSW taken up by the indigenous-run national
park is not certain, but he is sure the prospectors will come knocking
sooner or later.
‘I’m against it because it’s not safe, mining companies are always
stuffing up’ he says when I pull up in Wilcannia on a scorching
afternoon. ‘They might have an accident.’…
Australia’s Foreign Minister in denial on India’s non-proliferation record – Greens
Australian Greens spokesperson for nuclear policy Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam. 22 January 2013 Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s defence of India’s non-proliferation record defies belief as well as history the Australian Greens said today.
“It is ridiculous for Bob Carr to defend India’s non-proliferation record when India produced plutonium for weapons in 1974 from a Canadian-supplied reactor it pledged to use only for ‘peaceful purposes’.
“The Foreign Minister has forgotten that Australia played a leading in role in establishing the Nuclear Supplies Group in direct response to this duplicity.
“The Foreign Minister has also forgotten that K. Subrahmanyam, former head of the national security advisory board in 
India, said in 2005: ‘Given India’s uranium ore crunch and the need to build up our … nuclear deterrent arsenal as fast as possible, it is to India’s advantage to categorise as many power reactors as possible as civilian ones to be refuelled by imported uranium and conserve our native uranium fuel for weapons-grade plutonium production’. Clearly, Australian uranium would boost India’s nuclear weapons capacity.
“Rather than a fine non-proliferation record, India has a history of illicit nuclear procurement, has inadequate nuclear export controls, does not allow IAEA inspections of all of its nuclear plants, refuses to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, continues to expand its nuclear arsenal and missile capabilities, and actively contributes to the sub-continent being host to the most precarious nuclear stand-off in the world.
“India is also dangerous for peaceful anti-nuclear protesters, five of whom have been murdered since 2010 in the struggles against the nuclear industry in Koodankulam (Tamil Nadu), Jaitapur (Maharashtra) and Gorakhpur (Haryana).
“By pouring uranium into this country, Australia would fuel regional nuclear dangers and encourage an industry that India’s own Auditor General has strongly condemned, given there is no national policy on nuclear and radiation safety and that supervision of licensing, registration of nuclear radiating machines and sites, inspections, monitoring, policy development and safety standards, emergency response and verification of the disposal of nuclear waste are all sub-standard.
“Australia selling uranium to India is also a violation of the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference commitment to require full-scope safeguards as a condition of supply, and of our obligations under Article IV of the Treaty of Rarotonga which obliges signatories to not supply equipment or material to countries no under full scope safeguards. India is not under full scope safeguards.
“Given these facts on the ground, any uranium deal Australia does with India would be a reckless denial of safety, security and regulatory problems. The Foreign Minister is in denial if he thinks all is well in India, or that the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will simply rubber stamp an agreement that overturns long-held Australian nuclear policy.”
Bob Carr- Australia furthering plans to sell uranium to India
India, Australia to hold civil nuclear talks in March http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/government-and-policy/india-australia-to-hold-civil-nuclear-talks-in-march/article4328430.ece?ref=wl_industry-and-economy NEW DELHI, JAN 21:
India and Australia have agreed to hold the first round of negotiations on the civil nuclear co-operation agreement here in March, the visiting Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on Monday.
“Australian and Indian officials will be working to conclude the agreement, which will enable the export of uranium from Australia to India,” the Minister said after holding talks with External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.
Carr said the issue of further strengthening bilateral investment ties, including the Australian Minister of Trade’s visit here later this month to advance the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) was also discussed.
Sources said while issues regarding the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement did come up at the talks, it was decided that this would be taken up during the forthcoming visit of the Australian Trade Minister.
The Minister announced that as part of the Australia-India water technology partnership, the first phase of the $12-million initiative would commence with a pilot project of an Australian modelling tool for water management in the Brahmani and Baitarani river basins in eastern India.
Pointing out that trade negotiators had been engaged in broadening their understanding towards a mutually beneficial CECA, Khurshid said, “Our investments in Australia have grown significantly in recent years, particularly in the resources sector. We have welcomed the Australian side to invest in the opportunities in India. Our Defence Minister will be visiting Australia soon for further discussions on co-operation in defence and security.”
Atomic bomb tests harmed animals, but “no evidence” of harm done to Aborigines!
In 1953 the USA’s Atomic Energy Commission documented that sheep and cattle at that range suffered Beta radiation burn to their hides. The matter was secret at the time and an important one for the AEC to control. While the AEC admitted internally that beta burns were being found on livestock, no document mentioning the same condition in humans has been released to the public. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
The US position admits to harming animals, but it denies any harm to humans. Even though Warm Spring children suffered skin rashes, sickness and other symptoms..
Britain must show proof of dose at distance in relation to Totem 1′s Black Mist, Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 21 Jan 13 The legal action on behalf affected Australian Aboriginal people has been halted by the British view that no proof of harm exists in relation to bomb fallout.
Specifically in relation to the test blast named Totem 1 of October 1953, Australian and British authorities state no harm could possibly come to anyone. This has been stated to me in a letter by the CEO of ARPANSA. The assertion is based upon British calculations of dose estimates from the cloud.
Disagreement still exists over the very existence of the Black Mist ground level atomic cloud which caused so much harm and suffering particularly to Aboriginal people at distances of 100 miles and more. Continue reading
15% fall in uranium price in 2013 – a problem for Rio Tinto
While Rio thought it was buying the asset at the bottom of the uranium
market – which had been badly depressed after the Fukushima nuclear
disaster in March 2011 – it was soon proved wrong when prices for
sales of uranium fell by close to 15 per cent in 2013.
Rio’s uranium foray faces write-down, The Age January 21, 2013 PeterKer RIO Tinto’s most recent acquisition could be among those written
down next month when the miner reveals full details of the $US14
billion in impairments that cost chief executive Tom Albanese his job.
Australian analysts believe one of those smaller write-downs could be
against the Canadian uranium deposits acquired by Rio just over one
year ago in its $638 million acquisition of Canadian junior Hathor
Exploration.
That deal gave Rio a prospective uranium deposit called Roughrider,
but only after a bidding war with uranium major Cameco that saw the
two rivals swap improved bids several times. Continue reading
Australian government colluded with Britain to refuse diagnosing Aboriginal Maralinga test victims
a detailed description of how nuclear authorities denied diagnosis for decades, “lost” medical records, when diagnosis of survivors was made 3 decades after the event, the event which caused the symptoms was not referenced and specifically in relation to recurrent local radiation injury to skin, which can become a chronic and cyclic event, outbreaks of symptoms recurring in cycles over decades. This is diagnosed in at least some cases, one specifically known to me, not as local radiation injury (beta burn) but as psoriasis.
It is an easy thing to deny diagnosis, as was done – affected people asked for diagnosis in 1953 and later and doctors in Australia REFUSED to give a diagnosis.
Now, in 2013, British authorities claim nothing can be proven to show it is liable for the suffering and death it visited by its actions and in concert with Australian authorities upon Aboriginal people
Aboriginal Truth Buried Under Atomic Fudge, Paul Langley’s Nuclear history Blog, 19 Jan 13 The refusal of British authorities to acknowledge that British nuclear weapon testing in Australia in the 1950s and related “minor trials” which continued into the 1960s (including some which contravened the spirit if not the bones of the LTBT) and the Operation Brumby “cleanup” which resulted in a worsened situation of contamination on Aboriginal land.
For many years a sign on the road from Maralinga to Oak Valley warned people to stay in their vehicles.
On this same land Aboriginal people hunted and hunt and gather.
A Vulcan bomber fired a loaded but disarmed nuclear missile over the Maralinga Range. The missile overshot its target, resulting in the missile disintegrating and spreading plutonium dust over a wide area off of the Range.
In the 1980s the Adelaide Advertiser reported on the discovery of plutonium in the Oak Valley school yard and buildings. The white teachers refused to work and returned to Adelaide. The people of Oak Valley had to continue to live there. Continue reading
China the major shareholder in Western Australia’s new uranium exploration company Zeus
China backs new WA uranium play Nick Sas, The West Australian January 18, 2013, China Inc has joined WA’s uranium hunt, with the State-backed China Metallurgical Geology Bureau revealed as the major shareholder in new uranium explorer Zeus Resources.
In a deal that ignores the gloom surrounding Australia’s limp initial public offering market, Zeus will hit the boards on Monday after successfully raising $13.5 million to jump-start its uranium exploration projects scattered around WA…… China National Nuclear Corporation chairman said last year it would speed up investments in overseas uranium mining exploration, with a particular focus on Australia and Africa, in order to meet the energy company’s growing demand for uranium.
In March last year China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group completed the $2.2 billion takeover of WA’s Extract Resources, which owns the Husab uranium asset in Namibia…. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/15872030/china-backs-new-wa-uranium-play/
Australia’s future submarines will not be nuclear ones
Nuclear not an option for next generation of submarines BY:PAUL DIBB :The Australian
- January 18, 2013
LATER this year, the government will make a decision to narrow the choice for Australia’s future submarines. Contrary to opinions expressed in The Weekend Australian (“Past sub mistakes make a case for going nuclear”, January 5-6) the preferred option will certainly not be a nuclear submarine. Continue reading
1 This month.
20 September –National Day of Action in Melbourne on the International Day of Peace
Help Aunty Sue Protect Her Land and Sacred Sites From Destructive Rocket Testing.
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PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
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